How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411: "The Walking Bike for an Active Life"

Found on: https://www.treehugger.com/walking/alinker-walking-bike-active-life.html
                 &
https://www.thealinker.com/

The Alinker is "the walking bike for an active life"

Lloyd Alter lloydalter

September 17, 2018

CC BY 2.0 Alinker/ Lloyd Alter

What a cool way to get around if you have trouble walking or cycling.

It's a common complaint in debates about bike lanes that "not everyone can cycle." It's true; a lot of people can't walk long distances, either. That's why the Alinker walking bike is such a brilliant invention. Dutch designer and architect Barbara Alink invented it after her mother complained about walkers and scooters: "Over my dead body will I ever use one of those!" I ran into Barbara at Open Streets in Toronto recently and just fell in love with it.

Barbara with Alinker/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

Barbara designed it with her mom in mind, but it has a much bigger audience than just people who are aging. There are landmine victims, amputees, people with degenerative diseases -- many different people for whom walking long distances is difficult or painful. And it doesn't look like some medical mobility device.

The Alinker is for everyone who wants to maintain an active life regardless of their movement abilities/disabilities. It is designed to be so cool that it overcomes the uneasiness towards disabilities that is felt by mainstream society. When you are using the Alinker you are the person with that cool bike rather than someone who is overlooked or ignored. The Alinker is challenging assumptions about people with disabilities and is striving to build a more inclusive community.

© Alinker lets you get the big picture

My mom (who once owned an adult tricycle) would have loved this. Her canes and then her walker took some of the weight off her bum knee, but with this, she could have kept going to the galleries that she loved. It has bigger wheels than a walker so it can handle typical crappy North American sidewalks better than a walker. It is a lot cheaper and lighter than a motorized scooter and could probably do the job for a lot of people who don't get any exercise in the scooter, but could with this. The main advantages:

• users sit upright at eye level with standing companions
• weight is supported by the seat with no stress on the lower body
• handle bars provide additional support
• feet remain on the ground keeping users stable and safe

Given that it seems more like a bike than a walker, I asked if users had any trouble taking it into museums and public buildings. Barbara told me that it is designed to have a smaller footprint than a wheelchair, so it can go anywhere a wheelchair can. One museum in the Netherlands caused some trouble at first (she says that the Dutch "are very conservative") but they all accept it now.

Alinker folded/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

It also folds up quickly and easily, small enough to fit into a Toyota Yaris or a Smart Car.

It is a lot more efficient and easier to use than a walker, too. One Vancouver user says, "I always have a smile on my face when I’m on it and it’s such a great feeling! Instead of sitting in the wheelchair and feeling a lot more disabled, this makes me feel like I’m on my way to becoming healthy again. I can just take it anywhere.” Inventor Barbara uses it herself: " I have suffered from back pain myself for many years, especially when running, so I use the Alinker because it allows me to run with my partner and friends."

TreeHuggers will also appreciate that Alinker has partnered with Tree Sisters, and plants 50 trees for every Alinker produced.

There is so much to love about this. When people lose the ability to walk easily, it is the start of a downward spiral of declining health and fitness. The Alinker takes a serious load off the legs and is serious fun to ride, kind of like I imagine Karl von Drais felt when he invented the Laufmaschine 201 years ago.

This really is a revolutionary alternative for people of all ages, who could be whizzing down the bike lanes, going faster and farther than they could before. It is a "socially inclusive solution for those who want to stay in the game." Get more information and order online at Alinker. Available in three sizes and any color you want, as long as it is yellow.

I interviewed Barbara Alinka and apologize for the loud music in the background and for being so in her face, because of loud music in background.

Ecotricity - The World’s First Green Electricity Company

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, 

innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… 

e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…

for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. 

I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, 

the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, 

aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, 

and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, 

inventing, and doing, great things.

The 411: Keeping Bugs Happy and Populating Too!

Found on: - https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/ecotricity-launches-wind-and-solar-powered-cell-phone-network.html
                  &
https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/
                  &
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DBG7d3x9Dw

Ecotricity launches wind- and solar-powered cell phone network

Sami Grover samigrover

August 29, 2018

e

© Ecotricity

And profits will go to giving land back to nature.

It's not often that a marketing video for a mobile phone network talks about wildflower meadows and land management practices, but Ecotalk isn't your average mobile phone network. Founded by UK-based renewable energy company Ecotricity—which has brought us collapsing smokestacks, vegan biogas and some cool urban wind turbines—Ecotalk offers a wind and solar powered cell phone network with no exit fees, 30 day rolling contracts, and a promise to channel profits into giving land back to nature.

And that's where the land management stuff comes in.

You see, the UK has lost 97% of its flower-rich grasslands since the 1930s, and insect populations have suffered as a result. Ecotricity has already been buying up farm fields and exploring new, more nature-friendly management practices. In 2004, for example, it planted a new woodland with 20,000 trees for each of its first 20,000 customers near its first wind turbine in Lynch Knoll, Gloucestershire, leaving another 20 acres to be managed as grassland. (The company has also focused on bee-friendly wind and solar farms.)

Now Ecotalk is stepping up that commitment, working with charities like Buglife, Natural England, Friends of the Earth and The Wildlife Trust to identify and purchase pollinator-friendly wildlife habitats which will eventually form a network of ecosystems across the country.

Not bad for a mobile phone network.

To green energy company

In 2010 we introduced the concept of green gas to Britain and in the process we evolved into a fully-fledged green energy company. It’s a pretty revolutionary idea – that we can make our own gas and put it into the national gas grid.

Our model

We operate a unique model. We use our customers’ energy bills to fund the building of new sources of green energy. We like to refer to this as turning ‘bills into mills’ – energy bills into windmills, sunmills and - soon - gasmills. We’re a not-for-dividend company – our profits go back into our mission.

With no shareholders to answer to, we’re free to dedicate ourselves to the task of building new sources of green energy. And we share the benefits of our work through our ecobonds – giving people the chance to share the financial benefits of the green energy revolution.

Energy is the key

Electricity is the biggest single source of carbon emissions in Britain – but it’s not the only one, of course. The big three are energy, transport and food, between them accounting for 80% of all of our personal carbon footprints. The one thing they have in common is that energy plays a vital role in them all. That’s why we extended our work beyond the boundaries of traditional energy companies.

In transport, we built the Nemesis, Britain’s first electric super car – to demonstrate how cars of the future could actually be wind powered. Next came our Electric Highway, the world’s first national network of car charging stations - to kick-start the electric car revolution in Britain.

On the food front, stay tuned for news of our wind powered tractor and farm energy concepts.

Green Britain

We do all this in pursuit of our vision for a Green Britain – a place in which we all live more sustainable lives and where ethical business is the norm, pursuing outcomes other than profit. And we do it all with the support of our customers.

Dale Vince OBE, Ecotricity founder

The Virtual Power Plant

The Virtual Power Plant (VPP) is the future of energy in Britain. It’s a way for businesses and generators to help make a more stable, greener grid – and to benefit financially too.

What is a Virtual Power Plant?

It’s a digital control system that wirelessly connects thousands of businesses, energy generators and energy storage systems across Britain – what we call ‘assets’.

The Virtual Power Plant monitors the energy grid and makes small adjustments to these assets – better balancing supply and demand. The result of this is a more stable grid and better energy efficiency.

How does the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) work?

The adjustments are small. For example, when demand on the grid is high, this could mean wirelessly lowering air conditioning or dimming lights for just sixty seconds. But with thousands of businesses plugged in, it makes a big difference.

The changes happen in the background, so there’s no disruption to day-to-day activities – but the businesses involved benefit from lower energy bills and a revenue share for being part of the VPP.

How does VPP work for you?

For businesses

Think of it as having a remote energy manager whose sole mission is to improve your business energy usage. You may not see any changes to your usage at all – but you’ll still benefit from lower energy bills and a revenue share.

The process is simple. We simply attach a wireless box to your meters, then our central control system sends commands and scheduling signals to the boxes – increasing or reducing energy when it might benefit the grid and you.

For energy generators

It’s the same principle: we simply reduce your generation at certain periods when the grid is full, or increase your generation if the grid’s low.

You’ll still get a generation payment, plus the added benefit of revenue share payments for being part of the VPP.

You can find out more about solar power and wind energy generation here.

For energy storage systems

We’ll remotely charge or discharge your battery at optimal moments to maximise the battery’s revenue generation – and, importantly, maximise its life.

And of course, you’ll get revenue share payments too.